Facebook Signs Soccer Live Video Streaming Deal With Univision, MLS

Facebook, the social networking site, has signed a new deal related to Live Video Streaming recently. The tech giant has signed a deal with Univision Communications Inc., a Spanish-language broadcaster, and Major League Soccer to stream live videos of at least 22 matches in English during the regular season this year.

Facebook takes another step towards streaming Live sports

The sports fans depend heavily on the internet to watch games and social media platforms like Twitter Inc. and Facebook Inc. have started focusing on signing different deals to live stream sports on their sites. The first match, which will stream on the social networking site on March 18, will be featuring new Major League Soccer club Atlanta United hosting Chicago Fire.

The soccer organization (MLS) will produce 40 “Matchday Live” shows as well, which will include the analysis and highlights of the game that will be exclusive to the social media giant. The games will be live streamed on Univision Deportes’ Facebook page while the shows will be available on the Facebook Page of MLS. Univision Deportes is the multimedia sports business of Univision.

Last month, the Spanish-language broadcaster had decided to use Facebook Live service of the tech giant to live stream Mexican soccer matches in English. The broadcaster said that under that deal, Univision would stream around 46 matches by Mexican soccer league Liga MX on the social network this year.

Financial terms of MLS and Univision streaming deal not revealed yet

The social media giant said that the soccer matches will be broadcasted only in English and will be available in the United States. However, the live shows will be available worldwide. The games are produced for watching on smartphones as well as laptops and they will include polls, graphics, and some questions for fans so that they can interact during the broadcast.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report the news about this deal and it said that the tech giant is paying Univision and MLS for the English-language rights to 2017 games but the financial terms of the deal are not disclosed yet. On Friday, while announcing the deal, Dan Reed, the head of global sports partnerships of the tech giant, said, “Even if they’re not at the stadium, people can watch the game on Facebook with a great view of the action while interacting with a highly-engaged community of fans.”

In a statement, Juan Carlos Rodriguez, president of Univision Deportes, said this deal will assist in growing MLS’s audience, which helps the league and Univision. Over 18 million and more English-language viewers have viewed soccer on Univision.

Nishtha Singh is a iStartup staff reporter who covers tech news, including review of devices, emerging startups, acquisitions, gadgets, Cars, Cloud, EVs, AR, VR, AI and more. Further, she is a reader, a tech-enthusiast, and a writer. Editor at Teenage Publishing and proof-reader at Evoque Publishing.